Winterhawks Take 2-0 Series Lead

(ISN) – The Portland Winterhawks took a 2-0 lead in their first round playoff series against the Kelowna Rockets with a 4-0 win in Game 2 Saturday at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in front of 5,885 fans.

Winterhawks goaltender Mac Carruth stopped all 20 shots he faced, picking up his second career postseason shutout. He first accomplished the feat last year in a 4-0 win in Game 1 of Portland’s first round series against Everett, in which he made 32 saves. The Hawks outshot the Rockets 39-20 for the game.

The Hawks created multiple scoring chances throughout the first period, outshooting Kelowna 20-6, but the game remained scoreless going into the second.

Portland broke the scoreless tie at the 7:30 mark of the second period with a power play goal when Troy Rutkowski fired a shot high past Kelowna netminder Adam Brown to make it 1-0. Then with just over a minute to go in the period and the Hawks killing a penalty, Brad Ross got sprung for a breakaway and beat Brown to give Portland a 2-0 lead going into the third.

The Hawks extended the lead to 3-0 just over two minutes into the third when Ty Rattie scored a power play goal, his fourth marker of the series. Portland added to the lead when defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon scored on a shot from the point at the 10:14 mark to give the team a 4-0 advantage that would stand as the final.

Portland finished 2-7 on the power play and a perfect 5-5 on the penalty kill, with one shorthanded goal.

The series will now shift to Kelowna, with Game 3 set for Tuesday and Game 4 Thursday.

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